Training At Home
Are you struggling to find a place to train? It’s winter, the days are short, buildings are shut, classes are cancelled. If you are feeling discouraged about your ability to train, you are not alone!
My husband tested positive for Covid-19 in November, and for 18 days we were isolated from one another and from the world. Once it was clear he was only going to suffer mild symptoms, I was dying to do something with the dogs, so I began with a list of the skills I thought I might work on in the house.
Don’t think your house is big enough or appropriate? Last April, Pat and I moved to Maryland to train dogs in a Covid-19 Detection project. We moved into a farmhouse (temporarily?) that had not been occupied for two years. There are four rooms downstairs for a total of 900 square feet. The doorways are 30 inches wide and there is no hallway. If I can train at home, so can you!
I have never encouraged my dogs to play in the house. Retrievers create chaos when they retrieve, and it’s not much better when the play with one another. However, by the second day, my dogs were on board with our new normal. Interestingly, it became a great opportunity to work on the details that I am less likely to focus on when I have an entire ring available.
Like me, I will bet that if you give it a try, the more you do, the more you will discover ways you can introduce unknown skills, practice details that need perfecting, and work on problems that need to be solved. Below I have included a link to the following three videos.
http://www.obedienceroad.com/at-home-video-series
Pivots
Ready to get started? No matter your dog’s skill level, there’s no reason you can’t start working on your glove pivots. “M” and I have a great time practicing pivots in the house.
Targets
When your dog can sit, down, and stand on unique targets, you have a tool to use as you teach many of the advanced exercises. Using a target that your dog can sit on, you can work on fronts, finishes, and it also provides a clear criterion on your sit stay. Using a target for down will help with your down stay, and the beginning of the Drop on Recall. You can also use it on the Signal and Command Discrimination exercises.
Standing on a target is a great way to start the stand stay, which is the most important stay you will teach as it is required in Novice, Open and Utility. Additionally, you can use the target to teach your dog to maneuver her rear end, and to start the Signal exercise.
Teaching “Hold”
When I teach the retrieve, “Fetch” means “Pick that up and hand it to me.” I only teach my dogs the command “Hold” if they are mouthing the object. Using opposition reflex, you can teach your dog that “Hold” means “Hold the object without mouthing.”
It’s easy to do in the house!
I currently have over 15 videos in this series designed to help you train when your circumstances are keeping you from getting to a building or into a ring. If you would like to check out more videos in this series, leave me your email address and I’ll send you more training tips. I’m at connie@onlineobediencetraining.com